Pet Smells and Clean up

[Sharon1074]

Hello everyone! Although my listing is for one guest and no pets, my weekend guest brought her significant other and a dirty, large dog. Although I am in contact with Superhost Support (my rep is doing great), my concern is cleanup. I have removed all (or thrown away) any soft surfaces, aired out the suite for hours, cleaned every surface (and the air filters), and used enzyme cleaners, I still smell the dog. I used my UV light and did not see any messes, so this dog was just dirty and smelly.

My questions are this: any tips of cleaning out a dirty dog smell? What measures do you use to make sure linens and surfaces are bug (mites) free?

I'd rather not have my next guest have issues.

As a side note, I've had service dogs before (guests have both let me know during reservation or when they come) and welcome them. This seemed to not be the case.

Thank you!

[Sarah977]

@Sharon1074  Mites and fleas, etc. cannot survive high heat, so just throwing linens, throw pillows, etc in a hot dryer, would destroy anything the dog might have been carrying. As far as the rest of the place, just vacuum really well, every nook and cranny. Parasites like that tend to stay on the animal, anyway. Mites, for instance, actually burrow under the skin, they don't just fall off the dog or prefer walking across the floor to being on the animal.

There are sprays you can buy at pet stores and even the grocery store aisle where pet supplies are sold designed to remove pet odors, but I have no experience with them. I've had dogs all my life, but never had a stinky one. 🙂

Bowls of plain white vinegar set around for a few hours neutralize odors as well. 

And sometimes an unpleasant smell gets "stuck" in our brains. We think we still can smell it, but it's actually not there  anymore. Maybe get someone else to go in and let you know if they can smell dirty dog or an unpleasant odor.

[Sharon1074]

Hello Sarah,

Thank you for the advice! It actually took 4 days for the smell to come out. I had to purchase new air filters again and scrub the walls. This wasn't just me sniffing or the smell being stuck in my brain, I had others come in to test the smell.